Turnabout Racers
by Meister Ranko
Summary: (6 months after Turnabout Mysteries) A engineer is accused of sabotaging the car of a competitor in a practice a day before the race, Phoenix accepts the case and must solve the case. (Case Two from my Ace Attorney 5 version)
1. Introduction

**TURNABOUT RACERS**

**BY MEISTER RANKO**

**August 16, 18:00 P.M.**

Almost half a year happened since Apollo was shot, and he was doing fine with his recovery.

Phoenix and Trucy Wright visited him often, every day since the first day he was entered there.

Many things happened for those months, Phoenix Wright was step by step regaining the fame he lost years ago with his disbarment, and things were going fine in the Wright & Co. Law Offices.

That day was the day when Apollo was discharged from the clinic and was allowed to leave.

"It's funny, I've been here for months but I can't stop thinking about the man who shot me" Apollo still felt a bit a pain.

"Don't stress yourself Polly; it's bad for your health!" Trucy scolded him.

"What's interesting is" this time was with Phoenix Wright "How did you convince Godot to take my place at the trial?" Apollo wanted to know.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you that when we arrive…" Phoenix answered his question.

With that they went to the office, Apollo wanted to go to his apartment but Trucy convinced him to stay, she was still worried about his physical state even he was okay.

Moments later, Trucy left them, saying she was going to visit a friend, she was also carrying a small backpack.

"…It's strange, usually she doesn't go alone, she usually goes with you…and she doesn't go with backpacks…" Phoenix told Apollo.

(_Don't think paranoid theories…_) Apollo thought.

"I know, but she said she was going alone to visit a friend…maybe I should follow her" Apollo took his blue coat and was to leave but Phoenix told him she was going to be fine.

In reality, Trucy went to visit Godot at the detention center; she faked his dad's signature and presented the filled papers to get the permission.

"So, we meet again eh?" Godot asked, hiding his surprise "What does make you come here?"

"I don't get visits often…in fact I never receive visits…"

"Just dropping by and see how you were doing" Trucy smiled "You're the only company I had for my short stay there"

"I see it's boring around here" Godot looked at the light bulb over them.

"I know, I know" Trucy said "By the way I brought you this" she took a thermo filled with coffee "Home-made coffee, I did it myself" passing it to him.

Godot smirked good-humoredly at the gift; he shrugged and took a sip of the dark coffee…

Even he liked the coffee bitter, hot and with no sugar, he had to admit it was a very tasty coffee.

"I've drunk many cups of sorrow, but this one is the best coffee I've ever drunk in my life…" Godot took another sip.

"See, I thought you were going to like it" Trucy smiled gleefully."

"A good coffee is made with good coffee beans" Godot said.

"If you want, I can bring you coffee everyday…with other things of course"

"By the way, did you consider becoming a lawyer once again?" Trucy asked, remembering his performance at her trial months ago.

"No, I won't do that; I'm planning to serve the rest of my sentence…" Godot quietly stated.

"But Godot, it wasn't your fault" Trucy disagreed.

"Trucy, if a doctor makes a mistake and ends up killing a patient, even he had good intentions to save him, the fact still remains that he made a mistake…" Godot counseled Trucy "Intentions don't matter, if you do it wrong, you do it wrong…"

"…Thanks for the advice but I know it's not 100 % true, but thanks anyway…" Trucy whispered.

"Also, mistakes are the building blocks of wisdom" Trucy quoted a phrase she heard once.

"That was a wise one Trucy" Godot was finding that moment very pleasant.

And so, she stayed there, giving him company, chatting about many things, until the visit's time ended and she had to return to the office.

**August 17, 9:00 A.M.**

**Wright & Co. Law Offices**

"I've been out for months" Apollo looked at the calendar on the office's desk. "It feels like it was forever…"

Phoenix Wright was also in the office with him.

"It's time to get back to work" Phoenix said.

Soon, they heard the door opening.

At that moment, someone entered in the office, it looked like a professional car racer, wearing a white helmet and a white racing suit with trademarks printed all over it.

"Excuse me" for the racer's voice, it was sure it was a man "Is this the Wright & Co. Law Offices?"

"Yes" Phoenix answered his question "Did you get in a trouble you can't solve?"

"Me not" denied the racer "It's my friend, he has been accused for the death of a fellow car racer"

"Wait, I know you…" Apollo was certain he saw the man in front of him "…you're Tyler "Swift Wheels" Ryan, you're one of the competitors of the "High Stakes" racing tournament"

"Yeah, the one and only" Tyler pulled off his helmet, revealing a young brunette in his twenties with green eyes. "The TV is filled up with ads about the competition, it's no wonder you recognized me so easily"

"Okay Tyler" Phoenix got in the conversation "Tell me what happened…"

"Okay" Tyler took a deep breath "It was yesterday, the committee made a training race, it was the last one before the race"

"The tournament is a sequence of 15 races all around the world…it's like F1 but the rules are different" Apollo did some research about that tournament " The winner gets a 1 million of dollars and I guess this is the edition number 15"

"That's right" agreed Tyler

"Let's get straight to the bottom" Phoenix said "What happened in that training?"

"An accident…someone spoiled the champion's car and it crashed with the pit stop making a real mess…" Tyler informed them.

"Skip "Nightspeed" Murdoch was the reigning champion, he was the hot topic between amateurs and professionals" Apollo remembered watching Skip in a race or two.

"Yes, he was the best nowadays…his death is certainly a shock for me and for the entire world" Tyler was confused.

"Do tell me, who the suspect is?" Apollo asked.

"It's an old friend of mine, he's an engineer and he's in charge of the maintenance of the cars" Tyler explained.

"So people suspect he's the one who spoiled the victim's car" Phoenix guessed.

"Yeah" Tyler agreed, despondently "The police apprehended him minutes after the accident"

"You're his friend; did you notice something between them? Hatred? Hostility?" Apollo inquired.

"No, they didn't know each other" Tyler said "Look; I race for the Pegasus team, the victim raced for the Lighting team, every team has an engineer and my friend was working in the Pegasus team"

"Hmm, interesting" Apollo muttered.

"So, what do you say?" Tyler asked, with high hopes "Will you defend my friend, I know he didn't cause the accident"

(_If Tyler is saying the truth that means there's no way his friend could have provoked that accident…_) Apollo was thinking.

"I accept" Phoenix accepted the case, to Apollo's surprise.

"Thanks Mr. Wright, I was sure I was doing the right thing coming here" Tyler was relived.

"But Mr. Wright-" Apollo wanted to take the case.

"Sorry Apollo, but I'll lead the defense this time" Phoenix said and turned his gaze on Tyler "Tyler, I need to ask you some questions"

"No problem" Tyler was euphoric.

"First of all, tell me everything you know about your friend" Phoenix requested.

"His name is Clark Black, he's known like "The Panther" because he's fast fixing engines" Tyler explained "I've known him since school, we've been friends since childhood"

"Did you friend had bad acquaintances? Smugglers in the black market of car parts? Anything illegal?"

"He wouldn't do that" Tyler defended his friend's name "He's an honest man who works his ass off"

"Okay, now tell me about the victim" Phoenix wanted to know about Skip.

"Skip, I don't know much about Skip but he was a nice man, he wasn't like the stereotypical arrogant, smug, egotistical and conceited successful man…he was a good man, loved by many, that's why his death surprises me"

"But there were people who hated him…just because he was a successful man, they felt nothing but envy"

"Was there any scandal around his person?" Phoenix asked.

"Now that you mention it" Tyler tried to remember "Skip got divorced from his wife two years ago but before that they were a successful marriage"

"Hmmm, that may be useful later…" Phoenix said.

"Did you friend work for another team?" asked.

"I'm not sure but my friend is very talented with machineries so I guess he is hired often" Tyler answered "Also, with the necessary resources he can build good quality engines"

"There's a possibility he was hired for the Lighting team" Phoenix supposed.

"But every team has his own record, it registers every member, so it's not possible for the team to swap members" Tyler broke that possibility.

"…Maybe they did it without informing it, "under the table"" Phoenix replied.

"So I guess the rumors were true" Tyler muttered with a semiserious face.

"What kind of rumors?" asked Phoenix, that statement picked his curiosity.

"I heard rumors circulating through the organization: cheats, shams, that sort of thing" Tyler explained. "It's going through a dark time"

"…Thanks for the information, I'll have to get to the scene of the "accident", you'll come with me" Phoenix said leaving the office with Tyler, leaving Apollo alone at the office, fuming about how Phoenix took the case before him.

**To be continued…**


	2. Investigation -Day One- Part 1

**August 17, 9:30 A.M.**

**Los Angeles Racing Circuit**

**Pit Stop**

Phoenix and Tyler arrived to the site where the accident happened; it was in fact, a big circuit, the racers near their cars, chatting with each other about the events.

The place where the victim's car crashed was being inspected by the police, the yellow tape surrounded the area.

Tyler and Phoenix were stopped by the detective in charge.

"Hey pal, looking for something?" it was Gumshoe who was in charge of the investigation.

"Inspector Gumshoe, good to see you again" greeted back Phoenix "I'm the defense attorney for the defendant, so I need to ask you some questions"

"What do you want to know pal?" asked Gumshoe.

"Do tell me inspector, what happened?"

"Yesterday there was a practice race, at one moment the victim went to pit stop and his car was examined by the defendant…one lap later the victim's car began to fail and it led to him crashing with the pit stop" Gumshoe explained with details "When we examined the car, the engine was sabotaged and the brakes were badly damaged"

"I see, so the car was sabotaged" Phoenix spoke "Did you find evidence?"

"Sure, we found a wrench, it was used to sabotage the engine, it has the defendant's fingerprints" Gumshoe informed and showed him the aforementioned wrench.

(_Hmm, I'll take a note_) Phoenix took a photo of the wrench and jolted a note in his bag.

"Why did you apprehend Clark Black?" Phoenix asked.

"At the time of the accident we can corroborate Clark was the one who examined the victim's car, we have a witness who saw him" Gumshoe said.

Things began to look tough.

"Can we check the scene, inspector Gumshoe?" asked Phoenix.

"Sure pal, don't expect to find something we didn't" Gumshoe left them to go to his office at the police department.

Phoenix and Tyler passed the tape, and the scene was burnt, it was the garage of team Lighting, the nearby area was also affected by the fire produced by the crash.

Phoenix entered the garage, Tyler handed him a lantern, to lit in the garage, which had the walls obscured by the fire.

Phoenix directed his look on the middle of the flooring, which was marked with a square, which signaled the place where the car usually was.

In that square Phoenix found a stain of oil.

Phoenix took a cotton swab and soaked it with the oil, putting it safely in an airtight bag.

"This is a sample of the oil which was spilled at the moment of sabotaging the engine" Phoenix said to Tyler "I'll get this analyzed to see if it's the same oil the victim's car used"

Phoenix kept searching near the cabinets, inside it has oil cans, liquid for car performance and funnels.

Strangely, he found a can with no label and with signs of being used recently.

(_I wonder what this liquid can be_) Phoenix thought but took the can and put it in the bag for evidences.

Near the entrance Phoenix found tire marks, the fact it that they were different.

"Those tire marks, how many cars enter this garage?" Phoenix asked Tyler.

"Six cars get examined in this garage, those are all cars from team Lighting" answered Tyler.

Phoenix also found a pair of brown gloves, stained with motor oil.

"Did Clark use this pair of gloves?" Phoenix asked.

"…Hmmm, no, Clark was using a different pair of gloves, those are his favorite but that day he was using a new pair of gloves, I can assure you that with this photo"

Tyler gave Phoenix a photo of Clark and his friend Tyler, in that photo Clark was wearing a pair of black gloves.

"That photo was taken seconds before examining the car" Tyler said "It wasn't possible for him to swap gloves"

"Where are those gloves?" Phoenix asked.

"I have them in case you want them" Tyler gave Phoenix the pair of brown gloves, which he put in the bag for evidences.

"From this we can determine a possibility" Phoenix muttered to himself "Maybe someone else sabotaged the engine, taking advantage to a wrench with the defendant's fingerprints, a pair of gloves stained with oil which is probably the gloves the perpetrator used…and a pair of tire marks…"

"What's the matter?" asked Tyler.

"Don't worry; let's just check the nearby areas…" Phoenix answered him "Was the victim participating in the practice?" asked Tyler.

"Yes, he was leading the practice" Tyler said, not sure what Phoenix was trying to say.

"Let's check if we can gather clues on the road" Phoenix led Tyler out of the garage.

"And what can we find?" asked Tyler.

"Let's go and we'll see" Phoenix answered.

They went to the security guard's station and were received by the guard himself.

"Does this station records all the areas in this place?" Phoenix asked.

"Can I get the video tape from the day of the accident?" he asked.

"A guy in a coat with a police badge took the video tape" the guard said.

(_It doesn't help…_)

"Did you find something weird that day?" Phoenix asked the guard.

"There's one thing that bothers me" the guard explained "I've found someone entered here and stole one of the videotapes from the archive"

"Was it something important?" Phoenix asked, maybe it was a lead.

"Not sure, because I'm new in this job, the old guard knows about that stuff" the guard said.

Disgruntled a bit, Phoenix left the guard's station to continue the search.

"So, what can we do?" asked Tyler walking alongside Phoenix.

"We have to find a decisive proof that shows us Clark isn't the perpetrator of the accident" Phoenix answered.

"Look" on the asphalt a meter away from them, he found some hex cap screws "Some screws on the road, I wonder if those are from the victim's car engine"

"Why are those screws here?" Tyler asked, enquiring.

"The question here isn't "why are those here?", the question is "who put them here?"" Phoenix rejoined "Also, it's interesting the screws aren't far from the pit stop" it was a distance of 75 meters.

Phoenix noticed a set of tire marks behind the place where the loose screws were.

"I see, the victim tried to avoid the loose screws but couldn't, the cars behind it slowed the velocity drastically and they left tire marks on the asphalt"

Phoenix took the loose screws and put them on a bag.

"How much endurance have the competition tires?" Phoenix asked, getting an idea.

"Hmm, the regulated tires have enough endurance to resist a blowout"

"But since the Lighting team was going through a hard time financially talking, they weren't using regulated tires" Phoenix expressed his idea "I think the screws were a trap for the victim, with flat tires he was forced to get to the pit stops for a replacement of tires and that's when the sabotage occurred"

"I'm sorry to spoil the moment but all movements are being watched by cameras" Tyler was pointing out the flaws of the theory Phoenix presented "First, how could someone drop screws on the road?...Knowing that the circuit is watched, it's difficult"

"Second, how could the perpetrator sabotage the engine?" Tyler asked.

"Maybe the perpetrator closed the garage door to "examine" the car and do the dirty job, no one could have suspected" said Phoenix.

"Maybe, maybe that's recorded in the video tape" Tyler said, with optimism.

"I hope so" Phoenix replied, not trying to lift his hopes so soon.

"Let's go" Phoenix said, but then he saw someone approach them.

"Finally I found you Mr. Wright" it was Ema Skye, member of the forensic team.

"Ema, what are you doing here?" asked Phoenix "The victim died from an accident, you know"

"But we conducted an analysis on the body…and we found the victim was under the effect of a high dose of pain killers and sedatives, not enough to kill him."

"Okay, but still the engine of the car he was driving was sabotaged and the brakes were badly damaged, those were the prime causes of his accident" Phoenix refuted.

"By the way Ema, I need to ask you a favor" said Phoenix and handed Ema the plastic bag with the wet cotton swab "I need you to make an analysis on this cotton swab, let's check if the spilled oil on the ground matches with the oil used in the engine of the car"

"Sure, anything for you Mr. Wright" with a wink, Ema left the two men alone.

"Ok let's make a rewind on the evidence we gathered" Phoenix was making recollection about the found evidence "There are two pair of gloves, one of them used by Clark and another which could have been used by the perpetrator"

"Second, the wrench, it has the defendant's fingerprints but that sole evidence can't prove the guilt of my client, it could have been used before the accident"

"Third, the oil stain on the floor, it can either match the oil used in the engine or not…"

"Four, the loose screws found on the road, it means someone was targeting the tires of the victim's car because that car wasn't using regulated tires"

"And five and not less important…a unidentified can with liquid" Phoenix looked at the can with no label on it.

"Inside the garage there's a door that leads to the storeroom where all the spare parts are stored, maybe it can be helpful" said Tyler.

"I'll check that later" Phoenix replied.

"Right now, we'll have to meet your friend, I need to ask him some questions"

"Okay, he's in the detention center" Tyler said.

And with that they left to the detention center.

**To be continued…**


End file.
